My Kingdom For A Pitcher

Where has all the pitching gone?
Just one look at the Advance Sports section Tuesday -- or any day this high school baseball season -- and you'd be stunned by some of the final scores, with numbers soaring higher than gas prices.
Curtis 16-6 over McKee/Staten Island Tech ... New Dorp 15-5 over Port Richmond ... Moore Catholic 12-4 over Monsignor Farrell ... Tottenville 12-5 over Susan Wagner ... St. Peter's 10-6 over St. Joseph by-the-Sea.
If Major League teams are having problems producing more than one quality starting pitcher, they won't get any sympathy from local scholastic coaches, who have been witness to slugfests more suited for a Sunday men's softball league.
What are the reasons for this dearth of pitching? I have my suspicions.
First, you need two people for a game of catch, and that willing partner who will squat down 60 feet away from you to catch your fastball or throw his (or her) body in front of your breaking pitch might be hard to come by.
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Hitters, meanwhile, have it easy: All they need are a few coins to put in the batting cage machine and they can practice their swings for countless hours.
And let's face facts: It takes more talent to be a successful pitcher than a successful hitter. Anyone can grab a bat and take hacks. If a kid can just get his bat on the ball, there's a chance that ball will find a hole. Bloop singles look like line drives in the boxscore.
Not everyone is blessed with the ability to throw a baseball very hard or with the kind of bend that physically compromises the arm, shoulder, elbow, etc. And pitchers have, basically, zero margin for error; if a hurler consistently misses the mark by just a few inches, he'll be walking the bases loaded.
Because pitching is more specialized than hitting, there's more of a need for qualified coaches to teach the art of properly and successfully throwing a baseball. And they just aren't around. The 40-something guys who do know the craft are probably still getting paid to pitch somewhere. Heck, I think Terry Mulholland still has a job.
But possibly the biggest reason, especially when dealing with teenagers, is that pitching isn't as glamorous as hitting. Pitchers who paint the black or induce ground-ball outs aren't making the SportsCenter highlights or the covers of the magazines or video game boxes.
The sluggers get the attention, and kids see that.
I guess the only way to coax some talented youngsters away from the batting cage and into a game of catch is with some incentives. I know ... how about any starting pitcher gets to leave his team and rest until his next start? Now where did I get that from?